


How You Fit Into Me

by estriel



Series: Inktober Insanity 2019 [5]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Boys In Love, Fluff, Foot Massage, Future Fic, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 19:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20917136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estriel/pseuds/estriel
Summary: The palm against Yuzu's back feels warm, familiar. He doesn’t need to look up to know whom it belongs to.In other words: Javi is back at Cricket Club and maybe, finally, the two of them are ready to stop dancing around each other. Set early in the 2020/2021 season.





	How You Fit Into Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Inktober 2019, the prompt for day for was _freeze_. I am a bit behind with these prompts. I have been feeling a bit sick, and real life has been a bit dramatic, so I'm slower than I'd like to be. Furthermore, when I _want_ to write short little things, they just won't come, and since my time is limited, finishing a fic a day just isn't possible. So... my apologies for the delay on this challenge. 
> 
> Soundtrack for this story: [Vienna Teng - Eric's Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK3C_VsxmHM).

_Strange how we know each other_  
_Strange how I fit into you_  
_There's a distance erased with the greatest of ease_  
_Strange how you fit into me_  
_A gentle warmth filling the deepest of needs_

_\- “Eric’s Song”, Vienna Teng_

The ice is cold and wet under his knees and forearms, seeping into his clothes. He shivers, and knows he should get up, but Yuzu is not sure if he even has enough strength for that. So he just stays there, the cold seeping into his bones, chest heaving, body throbbing in exertion and pain. The tear that slips out of his eye feels shockingly hot in contrast.

A few years ago, Brian would have been there already, coaxing him up, talking him through it, making him stop. By now, Brian knows better; they have reached a tacit agreement that when Yuzu is working through something, Brian just lets him do it his way… Today, Yuzu almost wishes it wasn’t the case.

The palm against his back feels warm, familiar. He doesn’t need to look up to know whom it belongs to. Javi, too, respects Yuzu’s way of work. Javi also seems to have an uncanny way of knowing when he _should_ interfere.

“Hey,” Javi says, quiet. Yuzu feels him kneel down on the ice beside him. “Yuzu.”

“Hurts,” Yuzu breathes, and he would feel ashamed if it was anyone else. Admitting to weakness does not come easy to him.

Javi’s hand moves up and down the curve of his spine. “I know,” he whispers, and Yuzu knows he truly does. He had been there, too. “You work so hard,” Javi adds, and the note of quiet admiration in his tone is not lost on Yuzu, even in his current state of distress. It’s like a small spark of warmth inside his chest. He draws a breath – deeper, steadier.

“Come on,” Javi says and hooks his arm around Yuzu, under his arms, helping him back to his feet. “You’ve had enough for today?”

Yuzu appreciates that Javi still makes it a question. He nods. He does have enough. He can only take so many falls if he still wants to skate tomorrow… Yuzu nearly laughs at how times have changed, look at him being all responsible now! But nearly 26 feels different than 17. His body will thank him tomorrow. So he lets Javi walk him off the ice, his arm slung around his waist, almost as familiar again as it once used to be.

It’s still so surreal to have Javi back at Cricket Club. Yuzu had spent a while feeling guilty about how happy Javi’s return made him because it had not been a joyful one. Javi had arrived looking lost, weary, with dark circles under his eyes and whispers of a rather dramatically broken-off engagement following him all the way from Spain. But Javi seems better now, after a summer of teaching kids and swimming in Lake Ontario on his days off, and Yuzu has allowed himself to lay the guilt aside.

“The axel looks great, you know,” Javi tells him later while they’re unlacing their boots side by side in the locker room.

“Not good enough,” Yuzu mutters, his frustration returning as he thinks of today’s success rate.

  
“Yuzu,” Javi says, and there is a hint of exasperation in his voice. “You’re attempting a quad axel from a back counter entry. That’s nearly impossible.”

“We will see,” Yuzu says, and can’t help the smirk that somehow makes its way onto his face even through the exhaustion. “Don’t believe in impossible.”

Javi chuckles softly. “I said _nearly_. I know normal rules don’t apply to you.” With that, Javi claps his thigh.

Yuzu thinks that maybe he should be more surprised than he actually is when Javi leaves his hand there for a moment, warm through the fabric of his training pants. It feels good.

Then Javi withdraws his hand and clears his throat. “I can take you home, if you want,” he offers. “So you don’t have to take the subway?” Yuzu smiles at the way Javi adds the explanation so hastily, wondering who Javi is trying to justify this to – Yuzu, or himself.

There’s a sort of hesitant warmth in Javi’s eyes when they look at each other, and it makes Yuzu feel like he’s wrapped in cotton. He wants more of that. Today, he _needs_ more of that. He decides that maybe, after today, after being responsible and leaving the ice before he breaks himself, he can allow himself a bit of recklessness now.

“You can take me to your house, maybe?” he asks boldly. Then nearly laughs at himself when he adds a justification, no better than Javi at this whole thing: “My mother will worry if I come like this,” he says, gesturing at his drenched training gear, and the fresh bruises he knows Javi can imagine hide beneath.

Javi’s eyes widen momentarily, and Yuzu’s breath catches in his throat – he is not reading everything wrong, is he?! Maybe being reckless was a bad idea...

Then Javi inhales, and smiles, just a small quirk of his lips, eyes sincere. “I’d like that.”

*

It’s odd, standing in Javi’s shower, in Javi’s bathroom, with Javi somewhere on the other side of the unlocked door. Washing his hair with Javi’s shampoo, all warm cedar and herbs, the scent familiar. It’s odd, but as he stands there under the warm spray, Yuzu feels the tension and soreness drain from his muscles bit by bit, leaving a pleasant sort of exhaustion behind.

He still hurts, but it is more bearable now, more of a dull ache instead of the ice-cold throbbing pain from before. He doesn’t even feel like thinking of points, or the axel, or anything else, really. Javi: that’s what Yuzu thinks about as he towels himself dry, wrestles his damp hair into some sort of shape with his fingers. It’s getting long, hanging almost to his jawline now.

He thinks of Javi, and of how they have been dancing around each other for a while now, getting used to being _close _again – not only in the geographical sense, but finding a way back to that rapport they used to have, to communicating without even uttering a word. It’s almost like the old days, before Javi’s retirement – except different, because now they both seem to realize that whatever they have now is never going to cut it for the two of them…

He is still thinking of Javi when he steps out of the bathroom, and heads to Javi’s living room. He feels small in Javi’s borrowed clothes. The soft long-sleeved t-shirt is cut in a way that it keeps slipping off of one of his shoulders, the sleeves too long, and Javi’s pajama pants hang a bit too low on Yuzu’s hips. Funnily enough, it is not a bad feeling. It is something he could get used to.

“Do you want some – oh,” Javi says when Yuzu arrives to the open space living room, stopping just before the kitchen counter. Yuzu watches Javi’s face, going from surprise to an appreciation that Yuzu did not quite expect. Javi drops his gaze, eyes darting to Yuzu’s shoulder, down to the strip of skin where the pants had slipped to reveal a hip-bone, then back up…

“What?” Yuzu asks. He is sure he’s blushing.

“Um, your hair,” Javi says lamely, even though the hair is not what Javi had been looking at. Not only that, anyway.

“I need haircut, I know,” Yuzu says and shrugs.

  
“No, I – I like it. It suits you,” Javi says. “Don’t cut it,” he adds, then blushes. “I mean, of course cut it if you want, it’s just… “ Javi trails of, runs his hand through his own hair. “It looks good.”

“Thanks,” Yuzu says quietly. “Can I have tea?” he asks then, and nods towards the box of teabags Javi had apparently completely forgotten about.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Javi stammers, then hands Yuzu the box so he can pick his own. He pours hot water over it once Yuzu makes his choice. “Want an ice pack for your hip, too?” Javi asks then and Yuzu can’t help but smile. Of course Javi had noticed, had seen the way Yuzu had landed his botched jumps, hitting his right hip repeatedly.

“Please,” he says, and Javi smiles back.

“Just make yourself comfortable,” Javi tells him, gesturing towards the sofa in the living room. “I’ll get it for you.”

Yuzu deposits his tea on the coffee table and sits down on the sofa. His exhaustion seems to hit him anew, a wave crashing over him. After a moment of debating whether it is appropriate to put his feet up on Javi’s couch, he decides that it is fine – Javi did say to be comfortable. He drags his feet up and stretches his legs out, shuffling lower until he’s leaning against one of the arm-rests. He drops his head back, lets his eyes close. He feels heavy and warm, and he’s sure he could fall asleep in under two minutes.

“Here,” Javi says, and Yuzu hisses at the shock of cold against his hip. “Sorry,” Javi laughs and sits down on the fluffy carpet in front of the couch.

“You’re bad,” Yuzu complains, but welcomes the ice pack, pressing it against his hip. It eases the ache a bit.

“Sorry,” Javi repeats a little sheepishly, then flashes a small smile, all long lashes and shyness. “I can make it up to you?”

Yuzu feels his heart skip a beat, and his mind goes places almost immediately – a testament to how often it has gone _there_ before, for it to be so instant and easy. But before he can ask what Javi means, Javi is reaching out, touching one of his bare feet. Yuzu doesn’t even have time to freeze, or yelp, because Javi starts without a warning, kneading the ball of his foot with strong fingers, pushing gently into the delicate bones on the top of it. It feels so good Yuzu just throws his head back with a soft groan, completely unconcerned with propriety now.

By the time Javi is finished with his feet and softly brushing his fingers over Yuzu’s ankles, Yuzu is completely unconcerned with anything but the feeling of Javi’s touch on his body. He’s also getting hard, which might be a problem if Javi notices, but Yuzu can’t find the focus to actually think of how to extricate himself from the situation before it’s too late. Nor does he want to.

Javi pushes the pant-leg of the PJs Yuzu is wearing up a little, so he can rub at Yuzu’s calves as well, working the muscles with enough pressure to give Yuzu relief, but not enough to hurt. Yuzu is endlessly grateful, and soft like putty.

“Thank you,” he whispers, eyes still closed. Javi places his palms on Yuzu’s knees, resting them there for a moment.

“I could go on,” Javi says then, his voice a little raspy. Yuzu opens his eyes just in time to catch Javi give him a once over. He sees the way Javi’s gaze snags on the bulge between Yuzu’s legs, the way he swallows and blushes at the sight.

Yuzu opens his mouth to say _yes, yes please, _to everything and anything Javi wants to offer – but instead, he yawns, quite against his volition. “I’m so sorry,” he gasps right after. His face feels as hot as a furnace. “I’m just –

Javi laughs, and runs light hands up Yuzu’s thighs. “It’s okay. You’re exhausted,” he says, and places a warm palm over Yuzu’s hand, the one that’s holding the ice pack in place. The warmth of him feels so good against his freezing fingers that Yuzu sighs a little in appreciation.

“I’m sorry,” Yuzu repeats. He feels a bit better about his faux-pas now, though, because Javi is drawing soothing circles into the sensitive skin on the back of his hand and Yuzu can’t quite think straight. He feels at peace, finally, after the long day and the difficult practice. “Can I – can I stay here? To sleep, I mean.”

Javi rolls his eyes but there is nothing but warmth in the expression. “Do you even need to ask?” he says, stands up and tugs Yuzu up to sitting. He then sits down beside him, his knee bumping Yuzu’s. He has not let go of Yuzu’s hand, and Yuzu’s heart does a funny thing when Javi twines their fingers, palms pressed together. Then Javi raises their joint hands and moves them, so that they are resting over his heart. Yuzu barely breathes.

Javi looks at him, all dark lashes and that smile that made Yuzu melt almost instantly when he first came to Toronto. Nearly a decade ago, when he thought they would have a great rivalry like Plushenko and Yagudin, Javi had smiled, and shattered all of Yuzu’s plans and expectations. And now here he is, made soft by all these years of Javi’s kindness, but also infinitely stronger thanks to him.

“Can I kiss you goodnight?” Javi asks, bashful, sweet and still looking flustered, as flustered as Yuzu feels, irises blown wide and face flushed.

Yuzu feels stupid, frozen in place, wondering if this is real, or if it’s another of his dreams. In the end, he manages to nod and squeeze Javi’s hand harder.

It’s all the encouragement Javi needs. He cups Yuzu’s chin with his free hand, and leans in, eyes closed, fitting their mouths together. Javi whimpers into the kiss, as if it was too much, as if he had spent years thinking about it. Yuzu knows how that feels. He had been there, too. Fantasizing, daydreaming… and pushing the fantasies away, only to succumb to them anyway in the dark of his room at night.

Javi’s tongue darts out, a question, and Yuzu invites him in, _yes, please, yes_, leaning in further, closer. Javi lets go of his hand so he can thread his fingers into Yuzu’s hair, cradling his skull as they kiss. It’s new, all new, and yet somehow familiar, like the quad axel to the trusty triple. Like they have been both doing image training for this for years.

When they pull apart, Yuzu feels warm all over, tingly. Still, he can barely keep his eyes open as he looks at Javi now, an idiotic smile on his face.

“Come on.” Javi stands and holds out his hand.

When Yuzu flashes him a confused look, Javi laughs softly. “You’re _not_ sleeping on the couch, Yuzu,” he says, and there is no hesitation in the statement. No quick add-on about Yuzu’s comfort, either, no _you need good rest_ as justification. It fills Yuzu’s stomach with butterflies. “Come on,” Javi says again. And this time, Yuzu goes, taking Javi’s hand, and follows him to his bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> This could be, maybe, the beginning of the long-haired Yuzu verse that I've previously visited in two other stories during Inktober... Obviously comes way before "The Grand Prize" and "Just This". ;)


End file.
